What do you do with someone like Ryback?

[CyberPunk]

Alright, I am back with yet another 'What do you do with someone like' thread. I've been enjoying this discussions with some really good points being brought up. So here I go with our next superstar.

Ryan Revees (Skip Sheffield from Nexus) redebuted as Ryback in 2012ter . He started a Golbergesque streak squashing jobbers, only he would beat two jobbers instead of one at the same time. The 'Feed Me More' chants started growing and eventually he got the big push when he got a WWE championship match against Punk at HIAC. After failing to win the championship on 3 occasions (which also saw debut of Shield and constant attacks on Ryback), he started a mini feud with Shield with a 3 vs 3 match at Elimination Chamber which he lost again. Then came Wrestlemania 29 and he lost to Mark Henry. Then came the heel turn. At Extreme Rules he challenged Cena and lost again. After losing to Cena again at Payback, he didn't have much to do except bullying people backstage and in the ring. Then he aligned himself with Paul Heyman against Punk but he lost all his matches. His alignment with Heyman didn't last long. Right now he's been tagging with Axel for past two weeks.

Ryback is yet another guy ho got a big push as a monster face. His 'Feed me more' chants were getting over and everything was going well when suddenly he was put into that WWE title match. From thereon he has lost almost every PPV match he has been. He's kind of lost in the shuffle and at this moment, nothing is going right for him. If I am not wrong, since HIAC last year, he has lost every PPV match against all comers. Despite feuding with likes of Cena, Punk and Mark Henry, he seems to be lower than where he was at this time last year.

Ryback has always struck to me as someone who is pretty limited inside the ring. He's a powerhouse wrestler who'd depend on his opponent to some extent to wrestle a good match. His mic skills are OK at best. Despite that early strong push, he's pretty much lost in the shuffle and I don't see much for him going forward. May be tagging with Axel is the way to go for him. He has lost so much momentum that he may not feature at this Wrestlemania and no one will notice.

So what do you do with someone like Ryback at this point? Do you build him back as a singles competitor? Do you turn him face? Do you let him tag with Axel?

Your thoughts on this? All suggestions/opinions are welcome. And, as usual, no spams please.

 

[MCMG]

It's a difficult one. They had some great opportunities with Ryback and they missed him. They could have taken the WWE title of Punk last Autumn. I personally think this is a moronic idea but many think that this is a viable option.

What they did with Ryback heading into WM29 was what irritates me the most. Ryback was getting fairly over. He was getting a decent reaction as a face and they could have used him better. The World Heavweight Championship match was Del Rio/Swagger. The Big Show dropped the belt to Del Rio in January of this year. There was also the fact that Ziggler had the Money in the Bank contract. It would have been tricky but they could easily have had Ryback win the World Heavweight Championship at Wrestlemania and then feud with Ziggler thereafter.

What they do with him now is very difficult. A tag-team with Axel might honestly be a good place for him. Just go out to the ring and wrestle. Keep it simple for a bit and even have them challenge the Rhodes Brothers. We know Ryabck and Axel can deliver entertaining matches and that is much better than being just another guy in the mid-card.

Looking into the long-term I'm really not sure. Heel or face, I can't see a bright future for Ryback. He has talent in the ring but doesn't have the mic skills. He might improve and then the outlook will be different but, as it stands, teaming with Axel is a good place for him. Honestly, facing Goldberg at WM30 might well be the peak of his career.

 

[ASKane]

They took one step in the right direction by putting him in a tag team. But there is 2 things I would change. He needs to be a face and he needs to team with a high flyer. I think Bourne and Ryback would be a good team. I am of the belief that the best tag team have a speed guy and a power guy. A few examples Rey and Batista, Reigns and Rollins, HHH and HBK, etc. Ryback needs to be an impact guy who only does a few moves a match like Reigns did when he first debuted and as he improves in the ring increase his contributions until he is ready to go solo. Heel Ryback = Face Miz. It just doesn't work and I cant be bothered to watch

 

[Softcore Holly]

Hm...I would make him run with the Goldberg moves. If it eventually leads to a match with Goldberg at WM, great! If not well then Ryback gets a few more moves in his arsenal which he can use to respond to the Goldberg chants with, which will eventually lead him to tweener status.

Next get him away from Henry. They keep booking Henry to decimate Ryback in the ring, and that's getting old really quick. The Axel teamup isn't really helping him either, if Heyman was still around they could have been great additions to the tag division but oh well. He can make a good big bodyguard for someone with mic skills like Sandow. Hard to place Ryback since he's been made to look completely unmatched against bigger guys like show/Henry and unable to take down smaller more skilled guys like Punk.

I guess leave him with Axel for the time being since neither man has a direction right now, I can see him being a possible future opponent for the IC title just to give Big E a opponent for a PPV, other then that I guess we can use another lower tier heel team to help put over teams like the Matadores/Woods-Rtruth.

 

[Kris Benwa]

I think what they need to do is have a monster heel take him out for a couple months and hopefully this happens sooner rather than later. He can come back around February or March (if this were to happen soon) as the face he was in the beginning and have him beat that heel at Mania. I think the only way to save him is take him off TV for a few months and bring him back as a face.

 

[BringThePain834]

I think what they need to do is have a monster heel take him out for a couple months and hopefully this happens sooner rather than later. He can come back around February or March (if this were to happen soon) as the face he was in the beginning and have him beat that heel at Mania. I think the only way to save him is take him off TV for a few months and bring him back as a face.

They could have Lesnar take him out. For more on that, read my post in the Heyman and Shield thread. Ryback vs Lesnar at the Rumble is pretty much set, so why not do it then?

 

[Im4Ryback]

I believe we can't blame Ryback for lossing the title 3 times he was put in these unlucky matches by wwe were he had to lose so it is not his falt the wwe are to blame for the poor form of Ryback. They put him in these matches which were wrong. As was said earlier they should have put him in a match for The world title instead of the WWE title. Ryback was much better as a Babyface and I have been furious about the Heel turn and it hasn't helped him in the long run any way I don't know what the thinking was behind that.

It was also mentioned earlier that he has had title opportunities, he has but they were all not his fault as a face because at that time they were promoting the shield and Brad Maddox cost him at Hell in a cell so he didn't really blow the opprtunities they were taken away from him by wwe and spoilt. So therefore that's why I'm wondering when theses plans for Ryback are going to happen with his Babyface turn. He was definitely a better face and was ruined by the WWE. The Heyman alliance was stupid and was wrong none of this rubbish that they have done with him as a heel would have happened if they had left him as a face and it was mentioned he lost all his PPV matches but he actually beat Chris Jericho as Heel. The Axel tag team is an ok move but only until Heyman comes back if WZS report is true he will turn face again in the new year when Heyman returns I can't wait for that.

FEED ME MORE

 

[BringThePain834]

Heyman is likely returning the night after TLC, so I think that is when they are going to do the Ryback face turn and then the Lesnar match at the Rumble. It could be money even for a one match feud.

 

[Dan E. Inferno]

Just push him. Seriously, that's it. Ryback can be a good hand as a main event level big guy if they just use him right. A couple of potential ways to go about that. Have him keep teaming with Axel as the hot tagger who kicks everyone's arse and picks up the wins. He'll eventually become the exciting tag team wrestler who deserves a strong singles push. Or have him disappear, return at the Rumble, go nuts with eliminations, get a big pop and a Ryback chant going, and then have him demolish an upper level heel at Wrestlemania. This time just don't fuck it up by having him lose every big match he has just as he's starting to get over.

 

[Duderino]

I think pairing him with Heyman was a mistake. I didn't mind heel Ryback at all.
-I thought the promo he cut on top of the ambulance after Extreme Rules was actually really good.
-I thoroughly enjoyed both of his PPV matches against Cena despite them both being very predictable.
-I loved him as the backstage bully picking on catering dudes and interview guys

I feel over time he became capable of delivering solid promos. Then they paired them with Heyman when Ryback really didn't need it, and Heyman didn't need Ryback. Heyman has Brock Lesnar. He doesn't need another monster. Ryback's promos weren't so bad that they needed Heyman to work as a mouthpiece. It just didn't make sense. And worst of all, sticking him with Heyman forced him to repeatedly challenge the #2 guy in the company, which again put Ryback in a situation where he absolutely had to lose.

Ryback needs to disappear for a while and be reinvented. If Goldberg does wind up having a match at Mania, have Ryback interfere costing Goldberg the match. There you get instant heat, a natural way to address the whole "Goldberg" issue.

Based on what Goldberg is willing to do following Mania (not very much probably), you can try to lead to a Goldberg v. Ryback match or just build up Ryback as a dominant heel through the midcard until he eventually challenges Big E Langston for the IC title and wins, sparking a lengthy strongman feud that leaves both guys looking strong.

EDIT: I also like the idea of Ryback and Damien Sandow as a temporary Brains and Braun tag team who are both using each other unknowingly for their own gains.

 

[darbare]

Turning him heel was career homicide on the part of creative..the conspiracy theorist in me says this has John Cenas politics written all over it because a guy bigger than Cena comes along and becomes the most over guy on the roster, doesnt happen very often does it? Then a guy half Cenas size gets over in a way no one predicted and they end his push? Cough Bryan cough..Im getting offtrack, but I digress. Ryback needs to turn face sooner rather than later, then you have Heyman return and have Brock take him out..he returns at the Rumble as a face, Feed me More and all. Go on to Mania against Brock in a match and get, what his first PPV win after all this time? (not counting Jericho because he left like the next day). Theres still time but they lose a little each day he remains a heel and continually degresses..turn him face

 

[BestWrestlingOpinions]

You forgot to mention that he was a part of one of the best matches of 2012, TLC 6men tag tornado match. Granted that he wasn't the biggest reason it was so great, because the Shield did most of the good work, but he was involved in it nonetheless and deserves recognition for it. He also won a match by roll up against Jericho at some PPV ( i think the one after MitB or something).

I have to say, I never was high on Ryback since the beginning of his Ryback career. The squash-jobbers formula is a typical one used for many other guys coming in that want to be established as dominant monsters, so he wasn't really that special. Of course, they went with that angle for longer and that made him look like Goldberg, which I don't know if it's a good or a bad thing. The management made a mistake pushing him to the WWE Title scene and it's a mistake for multiple reasons and for multiple people, which everyone pretty much knows. He kept losing all PPV matches, except the one with Jericho and his run with Heyman was average and to me, it really didn't make any sense. I mean, what's the point of having him in a program with Punk if you will just have him lose anyway.

After all those stuff though, I see something good that happened. His alliance with Axel. I know that both guys are in the average level at the moment, there is nothing special about them yet and really need to work to get higher. As I said, I'm not really high on Ryback still after 18 months he has debuted, but that doesn't mean he won't win me over with his future career aspects, which brings me to the point of the thread; what are the best aspects:

His tag team formation with Axel seems really good in my eyes. Both guys are mid carders that are looking to make the next step. Seemingly though, they can't do it on their own (I could be wrong). Having those two guys work together, at least for me, hides their weaknesses and their previous loss records, especially for Ryback. They have something in common; they were once Paul Heyman guys, and they both dumped him, so there is a reason for them being together. I say throw them into the big leagues of the tag teams. Let them face the Usos, or the Shield. Since we know that Usos/Shield can provide good in ring action, we can say that this will make Ryback and Axel look good. Give them a tag team titles shot. I really think this can work. They are big guys, one being more technical that the other, where the other is stronger. For me, this is the best road they can go down. Once they establish themselves as a formidable tag team and win the titles (in my eyes they can be one), they can do a classic split-feud. It will generate more interest since they will have more people watching, and if they produce through that feud, they will become big players.

Apart from the tag team run, I can't see another viable option for making Ryback a big player or even relevant. It is being tossed around as an idea for him to face Lesnar. The setup is there, but I wouldn't waste a Lesnar appearance on Ryback. Punk defeating Lesnar was more believable to me than Ryback doing it and although suspending disbelief is something I can do well, I just can't see Ryback get a decisive victory over Lesnar. Triple H did that at Wrestlemania, Punk almost did at Summerslam. I just can't see Ryback doing it and generally the idea of him facing Lesnar isn't good because he will be outshined by him. I might be wrong though.

If I had to choose a singles career for him, I'd probably turn him face again and have him work with the Shield. With Punk facing them at TLC, it seems like the perfect opportunity for Ryback to have a "change of heart" and decide that he was brainwashed by Heyman and that he was wrong attacking Punk, so he would like to repay him, thus helping him against the Shield. He can bring back the Feed Me More character too, which was pretty much over with the fans. Also, this program is good for both Punk and Ryback: It can free Punk from his program with the Shield in case he wants to go for the corporate storyline and leave Ryback in his place to defeat the Shield. What I would do? Let this Punk+Ryback vs the Shield program end at the Rumble. Since the Shield isn't gonna win it, let Ryback eliminate all three members of the Shield, a la Reigns, making him look dominant. Then, you can have Punk turn heel or something by knocking Ryback out of the Rumble match, thus setting a heated feud between the two, which can lead to Wrestlemania, depending on the other storylines going on at that time. Something like that comes on the top of my head for a singles road.

 

[smalltownfan]

I prefer Ryback as the muscle of a tag team or faction. If he goes it alone, he needs a manager/mouthpiece